Shown below is information on a
military "mess kit" once owned and used
by General George Washington. A set-up like this
was not uncommon to European Officers, but unusual
to the American Forces. A small 44 page booklet
titled "General Washington's Military
Equipment" [Mount Vernon, 1963], p.20 says:
"His [GW's] military equipage grew gradually
as the war dragged on. In April 1776 Benjamin
Harbeson of Philadelphia provided a "mess
kit" consisting of the following:

1 Nest of Camp Kettles

3 large Tin Canisters

1 doz. Oval tin dishes

2 doz. & 9 Tin plates

He [GW] added more plates and
canisters the following month. Perhaps part of
this order is in the chest of camp utensils
preserved at the Smithsonian Institution
(Fig.11)"

Mess kit. Chest of wood covered
with leather, lined with green wool. Interior
divided into fourteen compartments and containing
a tray with nine compartments. Equipped with the
following:

4 tin pots with detachable
wooden handles

6 tin plates, 3 tin platters

2 knives and 4 forks with
black handles

1 gridiron with collapsible
legs

2 tinder boxes

8 glass bottles with cork
stoppers

2 glass bottles for pepper

2 salt with pewter tops

On page 104 of the coffee table
book "The National Museum of American
History, A Smithsonian Museum" there is a
photograph of a field mess chest attributed to
George Washington, possibly the same kitchen mess
referred to. It contains tin plates, platters,
utensils, and a tankard. There is a similar
"mess kit" at the Valley Forge
Historical Society at the National Park in
Pennsylvania, planned for display in early 2000.
The "mess kit" in question is tin of a
high quality that has turned dark with age, not
pewtered [tin-lead alloy] as has been suggested by
others.

INFORMATION WHICH MAY BE OF
INTEREST

The few items described below is
to give you a small taste of what was being sent
from the East to the new frontier, by our citizens
and citizens from other lands. Edibles were big
business as were all the other needed supplies.

This information is from many
issues of the Museum of the Fur Trade micro-film
at St. Louis museums and several other Fur Trade
sources, and are found many references from 1803,
1822, 1825,1826, 1832, 1834, 1835, 1837 and 1839
as to a number of the items available.

The first listings are just a
small sampling of "Supply Invoices" from
1822, 1825, 1835.

The second items you will find are
a sampling of remarks of from few historic persons
of that era, and their thoughts about some
edibles.

The third is a sampling of some
information on field seeds, vegetables, herbs and
apples, together with a little history on the more
popular ones.

Looking over this information, and
considering the amount of trade that was going on
out of St.Louis, it is a pretty slim inventory for
a variety of edibles when you consider what was
actually available during those years.

_______________________

1822: From a Trade List of John
McKnight / Partner of General Thomas James:

• 5 lbs Glauber Salts 1 dz peppermint

• 1 Box wafers 12 lbs sugar

• 1 (?) Hyson tea 1 (?) Bohea tea

• 1 (?) China Black tea

• Entered Oct 21st & 29th 1822

Purchased of the American Fur Co. St. Louis /
Samuel Abbott Agent

_______________________

1825: Inventory of Goods available at the 1825
Rendezvous on Henry's Fork of the Green River,
from Wm. Ashley's diary:

• 2 bags coffee 1 hams goods

• 2 Tobacco 2 packs sugar

• 2.5 kegs tea

• Tobacco 150lbs.

• 3 Bags coffee 200 lbs.

• 130 lbs Bale & Bag Sugar

_______________________

1835: Invoice of merchandise shipped on the
Steam Boat Diana, C.A. Halstead Master, bound for
the Upper Missouri River and Consigned to Messr
Laidlaw and Lamont for the account and risk of the
Upper Missouri Outfit, 1835.

U.M.O. Pierre

4 boxes Y.H. tea 5 loaves ( ? ) sugar

2 boxes shaving soap 4 boxes com soap

1 barrel rice 4 bales oakum

2 barrels water crackers 2 barrels each
navy pilot bread

1/2 barrels molasses Keg 50 15 gls 1 hlf
barrel mackreal

? bottle pepper sauce 2 boxes raisins

2 boxes cod fish 1 Lexington mustard

2 lb refined borax 1/2 dz. lime juice

2 oz nut megs 2 oz cloves

1/2 dz. ground ginger 1 gal blue grass
seed (for a Factor)

7 kegs 6 twist to pound tobacco

2 kegs 2 twist to pound tobacco

1 keg 1 twist to pound tobacco

5 kegs 8 twist to pound tobacco

7 boxes brown Havana sugar

5 sacks Grod Al Salt

1 box cavandish tobacco 10 barrel pork

6 bags coffee 1 barrel bacon hams

40 barrels flour

We all need to look at what we use
and try to get a grip on our equipage. Shown below
are a few ideas to consider.

List your goals.

Honestly ask yourself if that
item is really needed.

Sell or trade items not used
in the last two years, for ones you think you
will use. Most dealers / traders love used
equipage, as well as a good source for any
needed (used) items.

Keep only usable items in good
condition that fit your persona.

Record all items your keeping,
place a mark by the item each time it is used,
do this for a period of time, then reconsider
if its a low used item whether it stays or
goes.

Weight each item and then
consider its value, can it do more than one
function. Always try to have items that have
for than one function in camp equipment if
possible.

I have a spoon with a loop on
the end of the handle that serves as a tool
for removing hot bails of pot off a fire or as
a handle for my fishing line, a usable tool.

I like two blanket bedrolls,
I'm not a Baker or Curry that freeze all
night. One blanket is a 5 1/2 pt. , C.J. Wilde
and the other a 3pt. Witney with a neckhole to
use around camp if a capote is to warm, again
several uses.

The main idea is to keep the
amount of equipage down to a minimum, less bulk
and weight, not to mention the investment.

Here's
a neat "fire pan" when FIRE
WARNINGS are in effect.

A Canoer's Dream

Better water, tailwinds,
sandy beaches, no bugs, more water and the list
goes on.

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Until next time, we leave as friends and followers of
those that went before us.